Woman Reading, Édouard Manet, 1879/1880. On display at the @artinstitutechi in the European Painting and Sculpture gallery 201. This post combines three of my favorite things: reading, art, and fashion. Rather than focusing on what this fashionably dressed woman is wearing, I decided to focus on what she might be reading. She is sitting in a café so it is likely she is reading periodical provided by the establishment for the reading pleasure of their clientele. A popular French fashion magazine in the 19th Century was La Mode Illustrée. This was the first magazine to publish weekly in order to keep readers up-to-date on the latest fashions. Similar to fashion magazines today, La Mode Illustrée included fashion illustrations as examples of appropriate dress for various occasions as well as literary works and articles.

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